Today it has been 100 days since I installed Weightbot on my iPhone. Well, starting to track my weight alone is not in any way interesting, is it? But with that day I started changing my life as much as never before, because along come other installations. Some might not know this, but I have been overweight for my entire life. I am not going to reveal specifics, because I am still not proud of the numbers on the scale. But in fact there is a number that I am proud of.

In the past 100 days I lost 44 pounds (20 kilograms)

A hundred days ago I realized I had to change a lot about myself. Being overweight your entire life, does not mean your body is immune to the overly increased weight load. It might be bearable in your youth, but as you get older, you are starting to notice what the weight does to you. And week by week it gets worse if nothing changes.

I am 21 now and I noticed that exactly. I was out of breath quickly, could not take a flight of stairs to take an appointment without having to take a minute, cooling down in the stairwell. It was hard to get out of bed and my joints, especially my knees started aching permanently.

Pushing back the decay

It frightened me, how decay was so noticeably present, and I just knew I had to take action. And I did. I got an appointment at a dietician (had said out-of-breath experience once again, walking up the stairs) and signed up for a serious dietetic treatment. While she was not all too strict about what I should change and only pointing out “advices”, I took it very seriously myself. I basically changed my nutrition in its entirety. And while I am still rigorous with myself, I am not forcing anything in. I am just much more disciplined about what my body really needs to ingest, and what is just dead freight along the way.

Around day 50 I felt I had to do even more. By changing my nutrition I already felt much better and lost a lot of weight. The best word to describe my mood and sentiment is “vital”. But while Nutrition sure is important to lose weight and feel better, something else can not be forgotten.

A good nutrition’s best friend is exercising

I had been exercising before, but it had been years since the last time I went to a gym. Being overweight always meant for me to be unathletic and I never really enjoyed working out. It had just been a way to gain muscles and a harsh reminder that a fit body does not come to you over night. That is probably why I gave it up a few times before.

But the day I started working out at my new gym 50 days ago, I really —and I mean really— enjoyed it. I never felt that before and I loved it. It made me happy instantaneously and had a smile on my face for hours after the workout. And I kept going. I went to the gym at least every second day, sometimes up to five times a week and almost got addicted. It became ingrained into my daily routine and on day 100 I can tell, that I never want to stop exercising again. It is just the best way to drain the batteries for a good cause and to free up your mind. I love it.

What has been missing before

And on the already countless hours on elliptical trainers and stationary bikes I thought about why I loved my changed life so much. And I thought about what exactly changed. I couldn’t find a word for it until a few days ago, when I read an article by Joel Runyon about getting disciplined, not motivated and it really hit me like a ton of bricks. What I had been missing my whole life was discipline!

Ever since I started thinking about my overweight very early on —other kids can be cruel and a former crush calling you a fatso really flicks a switch in your head— the only thing that has been missing was discipline. Countless diets lead nowhere and hours of exercise were futile, as I did not have the guts to just tell my brain to shut up in its mission to stop me, and doing it anyways. The steps I took to change it were just not confident enough.

Now I have the motivation, confidence, and most importantly the discipline to do it. And I am proud of what I have achieved so far. And even though 44 pounds are a lot, I will not stop here. No sir, not at all. This was just the beginning and there is much more for me to do to get were I want to go: Next intermediate goal is 66 pounds (30 kilograms) total weight loss. Lets see how long that takes me.